Ho lay there are a lot of places in Maine to get married!

This is bound to be a very long post, so I promise in advance to do my best at brevity (not my strong point!!).  As you know (I assume - and hope! - someone is reading this blog of ours), Justin and I spent the weekend with his parents, Jim and Donna, who very graciously fed us and drove us all over Southern Maine looking for "the place" to get married.  We saw, oh, about eleventy billion places.  Okay, so it was more like ten to fifteen, but I can tell you from the glassy-eyed look on my fiance's face that it felt like more than that.

Saturday, it was torrentially rainy.  My best friend Erica pointed out on Facebook that if you like a place in the rain, you'll love it when it's sunny.  I think this will prove to be true. First stop was an official appointment at The Woodlands.  Positives: Deck with awning for rainy days, no facility use fee, one wedding per day.  Negatives: Outside pictures only on a corner of the golf course, but I have to say they feature pine trees and a lake, so it would still work.  This place is still in the running, even if it's just for a reception.

The Reception Room at the Woodlands:

The Porch/Awning at the Woodlands:

Then, our happy band of Roys and future Roy headed to the Clay Hill Farm, which was gorgeous outside - it's a wildlife sanctuary - but a little....interesting on the inside.  Quaint would be a good word.  There was not one main room for everyone to sit in, so for a wedding of the size we're planning, some people might feel a little left out and cut off.  Plus, if it happens to be pouring rain on the day we wed as it was the day we went, all those pretty birds and flowers won't be much of a consolation.  We forgot about a camera for a large chunk of Saturday, so no Clay Hill pictures for the blog.

We dropped in on the very friendly staff of The York Harbor Inn, from whom we may be requesting more information.  We also drove by a few other beautiful inns, but none were quite large enough for our very large families.

I had an appointment today at The Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport, so Justin wanted to take a look at it, and so we did.  The hotel has amazing views on the ocean in both abundant rain and abundant sunshine, and features a gorgeous porch that you could stay mostly dry on in the rain.  They also met the requirements of back up indoor reception site we can live with and hotel rooms on-site, though those hotel rooms are quite costly (slightly less so with a wedding discount).  Another drawback that I only learned about today is the wedding must be over by 9 pm.  A bit of a bummer, but I still think this venue is my favorite.

Good Thing We Bought These Raincoats!:

On Sunday after church,  we set out on our mission once again, heading up to The Poland Spring Inn to find out what it means to be from Maine.  The grounds and buildings there were beautiful from the outside, and some on the inside - I found myself loving the chapel, something I never thought I'd find myself doing anywhere.

However, I also found myself having my first Bridezilla moment - which I am happy to say was very mild.  Though I loved - and I think Justin, Jim, and Donna did as well - the views, grounds, and exteriors of the buildings, I couldn't stand the room where we'd be having the reception.  Justin described it best as "an old folks home dressed up for a wedding," and sadly, I have to agree.  They even had a Bingo board.  Other drawbacks included a very structured time (inbetween breakfast and dinner) for the wedding itself, as well as limited food choices.  However, if anyone from out-of-state decides to make a week long vacation out of our wedding, I would highly recommend a stay at the Poland Spring Inn - it's affordable and has tons of stuff to do.  I just don't think one of those things will be our wedding.

The All Souls Chapel:

Sitting Outside the Chapel:

The Gazebo:

And the Reception Hall:

After Poland Spring, we stopped and took a look (and peeked through some windows) at Pineland Farms, which was also beautiful outside and had some nice looking indoor reception locations, so Justin and I requested some more information from them this morning.  Out of all the places we visited, it most fits my vision of an outdoor ceremony with a reception in a tent, but my rain concerns have me worried about locations for photos inside.  Darn rain on Saturday! Making us think about rain...

We also stopped at The Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport (home to L.L. Bean!), The Eastland Park Hotel in Portland, and The Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks, any of which would work beautifully for a wedding.  I think I'd like the Eastland better if we were having a winter wedding, and Justin and I also agree we'd rather have a rural/scenic setting than an urban one.  But I really can't thank Jim and Donna enough for finding and driving us to all of these beautiful places!

And, to wrap up my very long blog, we stopped at Fort Williams, which features the Portland Head Light, and was so absolutely breathtaking I couldn't even stand it, and Justin's family used to go there when he and his brothers were younger, and I loved it....but there's nowhere to hide if it decides to be rainy, or scorchingly hot, or quite windy.  So, with sadness, I think this would also have to go on my "spots you should DEFINITELY (!!) go see if you're planning to vacation while in Maine, but probably won't host out wedding list. :(

At Fort Williams:

A super special thanks again to Jim and Donna, who were amazing and also took all of the pictures I've included, and to Justin, for also being amazing and talking about weddings for two straight days, and to Maine, which is also an amazing place!

So, we would love to know what you think, and I would love to know that my friends and family are reading this blog, so pretty please leave us some comments?  Pretty please?  Thank you! :)